Family literacy in preschoolers’ linguistic and metalinguistic skill development

ABSTRACT Purpose: to verify family literacy practices with preschoolers from a public school in a municipality of the Northeast Region of Brazil. Methods: 21 parents/guardians of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students from a public school participated in this study. A questionnaire with 18 items on the parents’/guardians’ participation in family literacy practices was develop for this research. The resulting data underwent descriptive and inferential analysis, with the significance level set at 5%. Results: the preschoolers’ mean age was 69 months, and that of the parents/guardians who answered the questionnaire was 31 years. The educational level of most parents/guardians was either high school or unfinished middle school. A significant, positive relationship, between the parents’/guardians’ educational level and the following questionnaire items was seen: paying attention to the children when they spoke, calling their attention to the sound of letters and words, and teaching/encouraging them to write their names. Conclusion: family literacy practices are not commonly developed in the culture of the Northeast Region of Brazil, and when so, most of them are similar to activities taught at school. There was also a weak correlation between the parents’/guardians’ educational level and the family literacy practices.

Holistic Literature Education as an Effective Tool for Social-Emotional Learning

This chapter concerns a model of holistic, structured literature education, which has pedagogical value for social-emotional learning. Fiction supports children's personal growth in many ways. The special emphasis lies on the reading process, which aims at empathizing reading and sharing of text-based emotions and experiences. Further individual and common arts-based meaning-making is an intrinsic part of the reading process. The empathized reading process as well as supportive reading environment need to raise educators' consciousness. Creative, arts-based activities offer channels to make children's interpretations of fictional texts visible. There are several presented examples of arts-based methods for literature education and the family literacy practices that have an impact on social-emotional learning. The methods are individual story ending (ISE), kamishibai theater, silent books, and structured reading moments.

Analyzing Burmese refugee children’s multimodal work

Researchers have investigated how family literacy practices can effectively support children’s literacy development in school. However, few studies have explored the lived experiences of Burmese refugee families in the United States. Utilizing a social semiotics multimodal perspective, this qualitative study examines how two Burmese refugee children made meaning by blending different modes. The data sources include video recordings, artifacts, and interviews. The findings illustrate three major themes that span time and space: family past experiences across global contexts, representation of current life experiences in the United States, and family beliefs carried across global contexts and Gawa’s dream for the future. The findings also show that the participants drew upon multimodal semiotic resources to create and share family storybooks. Implications include the importance of integrating multimodal perspectives into classroom learning and the possibilities of bridging home and school literacy.

Shared Book Reading and Bilingual Decoding in Latinx Immigrant Homes

Through in-home ethnographic observations of three multilingual immigrant families’ shared book reading, we identified recurring literacy practices in the home in which mothers, older siblings, and younger children participated during the reading. We found that families engaged in context-sensitive and cooperative shared reading practices, wherein decoding tended to be the focus. This practice—which we call transcultural decoding—involved multidirectional language socialization practices and occurred across languages, and older family members contributed both expertise and restrictive conceptions of reading. This work suggests the importance of (a) acknowledging the major focus on decoding during shared reading in families, and reconceptualizing that work as complex and nuanced, particularly across languages and cultures, and (b) considering siblings as cultural and linguistic mediators in family literacy practices.

Bridging the Gap

Shared readings have long been recognized as one of the most significant contributors to the development of literacy skills in young children. Shared readings are frequently found in both the home and at school, but discrepancies in how they are enacted can contribute to low student achievement. This may be particularly true for bilingual students, whose home literacy practices often involve heritage language use and/or translanguaging. This chapter provides recommendations for teachers interested in incorporating family literacy practices into their classroom shared readings. Recommendations include guidelines for building a multicultural library, tips on how to evaluate children's books for quality, steps to enacting translanguaging in shared readings, and suggestions for increasing parental involvement in the classroom.

The Role of Family Cultural Practices in the College Readiness Journey of Mexican American High School AVID Seniors

Going to college is an expectation for many students, but this is not always the norm for many minority families. The decision to leave the comfort of home for college includes many family discussions and literacy practices that greatly affect a student. Studying family literacy practices such as storytelling and “ cuentos y consejos” allows us to understand the concerns families possess as their daughters transition from home to college.

Family literacy in a low-income urban community in the Philippines

The growth of literacy in the Philippines is attributed to the formalization of the education system. Learning experiences from formal schooling and the home environmental influence, complement and reinforce the role of the teacher and the parent in promoting literacy. Home literacy practices which are centred on parent-child interaction can promote literacy through the sharing of information. This study examines home practices that are directly or indirectly associated with or promote family literacy. Narratives and stories of participant families about their literacy practices were gathered through naturalistic life-story interviews, observation and participation in selected outside activities. Themes were drawn from the data collected, wherein interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied in the analysis. Four themes were identified which focus on language; home strength and activities; faith, values and aspirations; and home and school connection. Languages used at home by the family serve as a springboard for family literacy, which also supports classroom instructions. Household chores and other home activities are used as a support to learn literacy concepts taught in school, such as science concepts, survival skills, hygiene and childcare. Family literacy practices are anchored in family values and aspirations that enable each family to pursue and sustain their literacy practices. Storytelling and reading are practised at home, which provides opportunities for teaching and learning among family members. Each family in this study found ways to maximize their limited resources to support the literacy of their children for better education. The findings suggest that the economic condition of the family is not a deterrent to family literacy practices. Family literacy practices depend upon the unique dynamics of each family, which are influenced by the languages used at home, household activities, family values and aspirations. Literacy practices are also related to teaching and learning activities at school.

Family Literacy Practices Surrounding Homework

Examining authentic literacy practices regarding homework in three demographically different family groups was the focus of this study. Parents of school age children identified as living in subsidized housing, parents of school age children working in a university teacher education program and parents of school age children who spoke a language other than English, the language of their school instruction were interviewed for the study. Implications of the study encourage teachers to be conscious of the importance of homework as a tool for providing meaningful activity, communicating information to the home about the classroom curriculum and mainstream practices. Teachers are encouraged to see the bi-directional potential of homework as an opportunity for teachers to learn about family practices through the returned homework.